


The Only Intact Object

by Hisha



Series: Auntie Hornet [3]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hornet is Grimmchild's caretaker now, Post-Dream No More Ending (Hollow Knight), female Grimmchild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 18:13:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20262370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hisha/pseuds/Hisha
Summary: In which Taon the merchant has to babysit Hornet's niece.





	The Only Intact Object

When Hornet was getting ready for the day, she noticed the charm Scarlet was bound to was missing ; yet the child was still visible, hanging upside-down from the ceiling of their Dirtmouth home.

“Scarlet? Where's your charm?”

Hornet's niece opened one eye.

“Ate it”, she (now that she could speak a little, she could tell others what her pronouns were) replied sleepily.

“Excuse me?!”

The unofficial guardian of Dirtmouth was on the verge of shouting.

“Don't need it now”, Scarlet explained, opening her other eye.

“It was the only intact object we had left from Ghost! From all my siblings!”

Hornet was shouting for real now, and her niece hesitated, unsure how to reply.

This was how it had always worked : once the Grimmchild charm outlived its usefulness, it had to be destroyed, and later a new one would be made for the next Grimmchild. It had always been this this way. She hadn't quite anticipated how attached to it her aunt was, and Scarlet suspected than neither did she.

“...Sorry, Auntie.”

Hornet turned her back to the child, picked up her needle and headed towards the exit.

“Do NOT follow me”, she ordered before leaving and slamming the door shut behind her.

The following silence was deafening.

Scarlet could easily just teleport beside her aunt in an instant (she didn't need a charm to help find her anymore), but decided it was probably best to leave her alone for now.

To a potential outside observer, the Grimmchild would seem to be starring at the wall in front of her, but her scarlet eyes could see Hornet, looking upset still, briefly talking to Taon the merchant a few houses away, then continuing on her way towards the town limits. And that was where Scarlet lost her.

Those early years before coming into full power again were always so frustrating. Maybe it had been too soon to destroy the charm after all...

Scarlet left the ceiling and landed on the table next to the fruit basket. Family dispute or not, she still needed to eat to grow.

Hornet had asked Taon to look after her niece while she was gone, so they had decided to bring the strange creature to their shop for the day.

“...And so then Sly suggested I specialise in food items and he in not-food”, they explained during a quiet time with no customer. “So, ya know, we wouldn't be in competition and sh- stuff. I only accepted to get him off my back. Still think he's got the better end of this deal.”

Scarlet just kept chewing on a little ball they had given her to play with.

Wait. She had a second mouth? Now that was unusual. Then again, coming from Scarlet, everything was possible. What type of creature could she possibly be?

Hours and customers passed, and still no sign of Hornet. Where could she have gone?

Scarlet was now taking a nap on the backroom ceiling, suspended upside-down. At least while in there she didn't spook the customers.

It was closing time now and Hornet still hadn't returned.

“This is startin' to worry me”, Taon thought aloud. “She's gonna be fine, right? I mean. It's her. Ya know?”

Scarlet landed on the counter and stared into the distance as though that would help.

“See somethin', kid?” the merchant asked.

“...No.”

“So... since we're closed now, how 'bout I teach you some more games from my homeland? Should kill some time before your auntie comes pick you up.”

Taon picked their old deck of cards from under the counter and shuffled it. They didn't think it was a good idea, but they couldn't think of another one right now. What if she was too young to understand that type of games yet?

They proceeded to show Scarlet the simplest game they remembered. She picked up on it surprisingly fast.

“And I was worried you might be too young for this”, they commented.

How old was she anyway? She had started talking only recently yet her gaze was so un-childlike in a way the fly merchant couldn't quite explain. Not only that, but very soon, she actually beat them at their own card game.

“You're... very smart, kid”, they commented. “I'm impressed.”

“Thanks.”

The both of them started a new round. And then another. And Scarlet won every single time, anticipating Taon's every move. If she wasn't staring intently at her own deck, Taon would have sworn she could see their cards somehow.

But she couldn't, could she?

...Maybe they should try a different game. At least now they knew they didn't have to dumb it down for the kid.

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe this is where Hornet gets captured and Silksong happens. Unless Silksong turns out to actually be a prequel like some theorisers have been saying, in which case we'll just say she lost track of time while underground, which is easy to do.


End file.
